CoBank Board Approves Special All-Cash Patronage Distribution of $110 million for 2024
Board officers appointed for 2025
DENVER (December 11, 2024) — CoBank, a cooperative bank serving agribusinesses, rural infrastructure providers and Farm Credit associations throughout the United States, today announced that its board of directors has approved a special all-cash patronage distribution for eligible customer-owners.
The distribution, projected to be approximately $110 million, is scheduled to be made in March 2025 along with the target patronage distribution customer-owners receive under the bank’s various patronage programs. It will represent an increase of between 12 percent and 16 percent over target patronage, depending on the customer-owner’s patronage program rate.
At its December meeting, the board also approved stock retirements of approximately $53 million.
“CoBank is on track to deliver outstanding financial results in 2024, and we are delighted to return this high level of patronage back to our customer-owners as a financial cooperative,” said Kevin Still, chair of the CoBank board.
Special patronage amounts for each customer-owner will vary by patronage pool as detailed in the following table and will be based on average daily loan balances held by the bank during the year.
| Customer or Loan Type |
Patronage Program Rate |
Special Patronage Rate |
| Agribusiness, Communications and Project Finance |
100 bps |
15 bps |
| Electric and Water |
80 bps |
12 bps |
| Affiliated Associations |
45 bps |
7 bps |
| Loans Purchased from Farm Credit Institutions |
100 bps |
15 bps |
| Nonaffiliated Farm Credit and Other Financing Institutions |
30 bps |
3.5 bps |
Governance Updates
Also today, CoBank announced board officers for 2025. The CoBank board elects its officers to serve a one-year term commencing January 1 and expiring December 31 each year.
Kevin Still was re-elected as the board chair. Still has been a director since 2002 and is the president and chief executive officer of Keystone Cooperative, Inc., a cooperative supplying energy, agronomy and animal nutrition, producing swine and marketing grain in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is also the owner and president of Still Farms, LLC, a grain farm, and serves as an officer or director of various agricultural retail and energy cooperatives.
Edgar Terry was re-elected as first vice chair. Terry has been a director since 2016 and is the chair of the Risk Committee. He is the owner and president of Terry Farms, Inc., a vegetable and strawberry farming operation in Ventura, California. He is also an owner and officer of Amigos Fuerza, Inc., a provider of farm labor contracting, and Moonridge Management, Inc., a provider of back office and human resources consulting. Terry serves on the board of the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation and is a former director and past board chair of Farm Credit West, ACA, now part of AgWest Farm Credit, ACA.
Brandon Wittman was re-elected as second vice chair. Wittman has been a director since 2018 and is the chief executive officer and general manager of Yellowstone Valley Electric Cooperative, Inc., an electric distribution cooperative in Huntley, Montana. Wittman also serves as a director of The Farm Credit Council and Montana Electric Cooperatives Association.
“I look forward to working with Edgar, Brandon and the rest of our board in the coming year to deliver on our strategic priorities and position CoBank for continued long-term success and mission service,” Still said.
CoBank’s 2025 board will consist of 14 directors elected by customer-owners from six voting regions across the country, as well as two outside directors and two appointed directors.
About CoBank
CoBank is a cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 77,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country. CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and also maintains an international representative office in Singapore.